Mail-bag.



Patented Aug. 29, |899. L. SANDERS.

MAIL BAG.

(Application led June 17, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet (N0 Model.)

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Patented Aug. 29, |899. L. SANDERS.

MAIL BAG.

(Application led June 17, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 (No Model.)

W/ TNE SSE S 'me Nonms PETERS on. Puma-umu.. WASHINGTON, mc.

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LOUIS SANDERS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MAIL-BAG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 632,151, dated August 29, 189.9. Application filed June 17, 1899. Serial No. 720,977. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LoUIs SANDERS, of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Mail-Bag, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide a mouth-controlling and mouth-locking device for mail-bags, which device will effectually hold the mouth of the mail-bag open to receive its contents and which will also effectually act to hold the mouth closed and whereby the manipulation of the mechanism at the mouth of the bag may be expeditiously and conveniently accomplished.

A further object of the invention is to construct the mouth-controlling mechanism ofthe bag in a very simple yet durable and economic manner and to provide a receptacle for a card of destination in which the card will be automatically retained when the mouthcontrolling mechanism is locked and released when said mechanism is opened.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in theclaims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a front elevation ofl the mouth portion of a mail-bag having my improvement applied thereto, the mouth of the mailbag being closed and locked. Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, in which the lock is removed and the locking mechanism is in position to permit the mouth of the bag to be opened. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the mouth portion of a mail-bag with the closing-nap lifted. Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the line t 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a horizontal section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a transverse section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a vtransverse section on the line S 8 of Fig. 1. Fig. 9 is a detail edge view of the lockingslide for the latch, illustrating the manner in which the sections may be carried at angles to one another; and Fig. 10 is afi-ont elevation of the mouth portion of the bag, the mouth of the bag being closed, the said view illustrating a slight modication in the construction of the locking mechanism.

The bag consists, as usual, of a front A, a back A', and a flap B that extends from the back over the mouth of the bag at the front, and the front and back of the bag are connected at the sides in any suitable or approved manner. The bottom may be made by continuing the material from thefront to the back or by introducing sections of material, as may be required. The iiap B of the bag is provided with a keeper C, and the front A of the bag is provided with a latch device D.

The keeper C comprises a body consisting of a front plate 10 and a back plate 11, either connected or made integral, the two plates receiving between them the free end portion of the iiap B and a locking member 12, that is preferably in alinement with the back plate 11 of the body, as shown in Figs. Tand S. This locking member 12 is provided'with a series of bayonet or angle slots 13, the transverse members whereof extendthrough the bottom edge of the said locking member 12 of the keeper C, as is shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 10.

The keeper O is constructed inlongitudinal sections, and if two sections are employed they areconnected by a single hinge 14., as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 8. If the keeper is made in more sections than two, more hinges must be employed, as shown in Fig. 10; but I desire it to be understood that I do not limit myself to any number of sections 'in which the keeper may be made.

At one end of the keeper O-a casing or tagholder 15 is formed upon the front surface of the body of said keeper, as sho'wncin Figs. 1, 2, 5, and 6. vided with an opening 16, which exposes any name on the tag 17 introduced into the holder. The outer end of the tag-holder or'casing is provided with an opening 1S, that registers with an opening 19 in the front plate 10 of the body of the keeper and an opening 19n in the back plate 11 of the body of the keeper, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and when the locking member of a padlock C is passedthrough the openings 1S, 19, and 19 and through a portion of a latch D, to be hereinafter described, the padlock or its equivalent will This casing or'tag-holder is prov IOO serve the dual purpose of securely locking the mouth of the bag closed and of retaining the tag 17 in its holder, as shown in Fig. 5.

The latch D is located upon the front face of the front member A of the bag at a desired point below the upper edge of the said front member of the bag, which upper edge is usually provided with a binding a. This latch consists of a box slideway or casing 20, preferably provided with anges 2l, which flanges are secured to the bag by passing rivets 23 or their equivalents through the flanges and the front member A of the bag and through a stay-plate 22, located upon the inner face of said front member of the bag, as shown in Figs. 7 and S. The box casing or slideway 2O is made in spaced-apart sections, and the spaces between the sections sustain the same relative position to the front A of the bag as the hinges 14 of the keeper C sustain to the flap B of the bag.

A slide 24 has end movement in the box slideway or casing 20, and said slide is constructed in sections. The said sections are connected by hinges 25, which hinges occur at points within the spaces intervening the sections of the box slideway or casing 20, as is illustrated is Fig. 3. Each section of the slide 24 is provided with one or more pins 2G, having suitable heads, and when the iiap and its attached keeper are closed over the slide these pins are adapted to enter the angle or bayonet slots 13 produced in the said keeper. In order that the pins 2G may have play in the box slideway or casing 20, said box slideway or casing is provided with longitudinal slots 22, adapted to register with the horizontal portions of the angle or bayonet slots 13 when the ilap B is closed over the mouth of the bag, as shown in Fig. 1.

The slide 24 is provided with a finger-grip 27 at the end corresponding to the end of the keeper at which the tag-holder 15 is placed.

' The said grip-section 27 of `the slide is provided with an upward extension 28, having. an aperture 29, and when the slide has been moved inward sufficiently to carry the studs or pins 26 to the closed ends of the horizontal members of the angle or bayonet slots 13 the extension 28 of the grip-section of the slide 24 will pass beneath the locking member 12 of the keeper C and the aperture 29 in the slide will be in registry with the apertures 19 and 19 in the keeper C and the aperture 1S in the tag-holder, so that the locking member of the padlock C or other form of fastening device employed may be passed through all of these registering slots, thus rendering it impossible to open the bag when the flap is closed and likewise rendering it impossible for the tag 17 to escape from its holder.

In the operation of the device, the mouth of the bag being open, the mouth portion may be spread by breaking the keeper C at its hinges, so that the hinges will be rearwardly projected, and breaking the latch at the hinged connection of the slide 24, so that the hinges of the slide will be projected forwardlythat is to say, when the mouth of the bag is to be held open the keeper is broken in a rearwardly direction at its hinged connection and the latch in a forwardly direction at its hinged connection. After the bag has received its contents the slide 24 is drawn outward or its grip-section 27 is carried laterally from the box slideway or casing 20, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. However, it may not be necessary to thus manipulate the slide, since it may be in such position when the mouth of the bag is closed. The slide having been drawn outward as far as possible, the iiap B is folded over the mouth until the locking member 12 of the keeper C rests upon the outer face of the box casing or slideway 20. The entrance of the angle or bayonet slots 13 will now be opposite the pins or studs 26 of the slide 24, and by carrying the keeper C downward the pins or studs 2G will enter the horizontal members of the said bayonet or angle slots 13. The slide 24 of the latch is now carried inward until the studs strike the inner or left-hand ends of the longitudinal members of the bayonet-slots 13 and the guide-slots 22fL in the box slideway or casing, as shown in Fig. 1. The 'tag 17 having been placed in the holder 15 the locking member of the padlock C or other locking device employed is passed through the openings 1S in the tag-holder, the openings 19 and 19 in the keeper, and the opening 29 in the extension of the grip portion of the slide 24, as shown in Figs. 5 and G, securely locking the mouth of the bag in a closed position and the tag in its holder. It is evident that by removing the padlock C and drawing the slide outwardly the keeper may be quickly detached from the latch and the mouth of the bag opened and spread apart and, if desired, the tag changed in the tag-holder.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination with a mail-bag having a mouth and a iiap arranged to close over said mouth, of a keeper formed of hinged connected sections attached to the iiap of the bag and formed with slots, a boX-casin g formed of spaced-apart sections attached to the mouth of the bag, and a slide formed of hinged connected sections, the hinge of which is located in the space between the sections of the casing, the said slide being formed with pins adapted to enter the said slots, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a mail-bag, a latch and keeper for the mouth of the bag,the said keeper being formed of hinged sections arranged for attachment to the flap and provided with slots, and the latch consisting of a box-casing arranged for attachment to the mouth of the bag and formed of spaced-apart sections formed with a series of elongated slots, and a slide formed of hinged sections fitted to slide in said casing and having headed studs workin g in said slots IOO IIO

and arranged to be received in the slots of the keeper, the hinge of said slide being located in the space between the sections of the casing, as set forth.

3. In a mail-bag, a keeper and a latch for the mouth of the bag, the said keeper consisting of a sectional plate, the sections whereof have hinged connection, and means for attachment to a bag, each section of the plate 'being provided also with angular slots in its lower portion, the latch comprising a box slide- Way or casing constructed in sections, said sections having means for attachment to the bag, a slide having end movement in the box slideWay or casing, the said slide being constructed in hinge-connected sections, the position of the hinges in the slide substantially corresponding in position to the position of the hinges in the keeper, headed pins proj ected from the said slide, and passed through guide-slots in the box slideway or casing of the latch, the said pins being adapted to enter the angular slots in the said keeper, and means, substantially as described, for locking the slide of the latch to said keeper.

4. In a mail-bag, the combination, with the mouth portion of the bag and the flap at the said mouth, of a keeper secured to the said flap, which keeper consists of a plate constructed in sections, the sections having a hinged connection and each section having angular slots produced in its Ilower portion, a latch consisting of a box casing or slideway secured to the outer face of the outer member of the body of the bag, said box-casing being constructed in sections and provided with guide-slots in its front face, a slide having end movement in the said box casing or slideway, the slide being provided with headed pins adapted to extend through the guideslots in the box casing or slideway and to enter the angular Vslots in the keeper, the slide being further constructed in sections which sections have hinged connection, the location of the hinges in the slide corresponding practically to the location of the hinges connecting the sections of the keeper, a tag-holder carried by the said keeper, and means, substantially as described for simultaneously locking the latch-slide to the keeper and the tag in 5 the tag-holder.

LOUIS SANDERS. 

